An analysis of adolescent suicide attempts: the expendable child.
Assessed the concept of the "expendable child" syndrome proposed by Sabbath (1969) as a contributing factor in adolescent suicide attempts. It was hypothesized that suicidal adolescents would be rated higher on a measure of "expendability" than would a psychiatric control group of adolescents with no known history of suicide attempts or ideation. Forty adolescents, ages 13-24, who had been seen in psychotherapy at a teen-age health clinic, were rated by their psychotherapists on suicidality and a 12-item scale of expendability (a sense of being unwanted and/or a burden on the family). As predicted, suicidal adolescents received significantly higher ratings on the expendability measure than nonsuicidal adolescents. Results support the concept that feeling expendable is a characteristic of suicidal adolescents. Implications for prevention and treatment of adolescent suicidality are discussed.
Woznica
J G
JG
Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, California.
Shapiro
J R
JR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012649:Self Concept; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires